Retirement

🗣  By Donna Fuscaldo,   AARP. Published September 05, 2023. I just read this article! Comments are welcome. I will comment below. https://www.aarp.org/retirement/planning-for-retirement/info-2023/signs-you-are-not-ready-to-retire.html 

What do you like? What do you dislike (and what would you change)?

When I retired I began reading academic publications that were relevant to "retirement." I created a free resource... Designing Your Retirement is a free instructional manual to help retirees have happy, healthy, and fulfilling retirement. At 136 pages and containing more than 60 references, the Designing Your Retirement Manual is a data-driven methodology that will help retirees create the retirement they want. It can be downloaded, for free, in PDF and EPUB format from:https://ihaveanidea.us/designingyourretirement/  It can also be downloaded from Apple Books (free) and Amazon (for a nominal fee.) Hayward Zwerling, M.D.IHaveAnIdea.us

I don't see anything on the subject posted here, but to my understanding when you have no one to take care of your final wishes, you apparently hire an attorney for this (Your executor).   To what kind of take on the estate is one looking for them to take, about a third?   I believe if it goes this route the attorney is entitled to a higher rate of your estate than the standard executor fee. 

I was completing the retirement calculator at https://www.aarp.org/retirement/retirement-calculator/. After answering the last question on the page about our expense expectations in the future it wasn't very clear how to proceed.  The only option was to scroll further down the page where there was an option to continue after advertisements.  I clicked on this and then there was some message about donating clothing.  I continued again and then received a pop from a bogus Windows Defender telling me my computer is frozen and to call a phone number for assistance.  The message also stated not to restart my computer as I could lose my information.  Well, I wasn't calling the phone number and my computer is fine after I restarted. Rather annoyed that after logging into AARP and trying to complete the calculator I ran into this issue.  Also found the page I was on before the subsequent bogus message to be confusing

With about 2 year left on a 20 year policy, we know the rates will go up - quite a bit being 68 in 2024. What alternatives do we have? Take out smaller policies of a smaller denomination?Can I sell our policy and cash it out like shown on TV?Renew the policy as my current age verse 70? Anyone had to think about this and what they came across in assessing this type of scenario? Thanks.

As the market continues to experience volatility, people in or nearing retirement are seeking ways to protect their savings. Fixed income investments and annuities can provide a stable source of income and help mitigate the risks associated with market fluctuations. Fixed income investments such as bonds, CDs, and money market accounts offer predictable returns. While they may not generate the same level of growth as stocks, they provide a steady stream of income that can help cover essential expenses in retirement.Annuities are contracts with insurance companies that provide guaranteed income payments for a set period of time or for the rest of your life. Annuities can offer a number of benefits, such as:Guaranteed income: No matter how the market performs, you will receive the agreed-upon income payments.Tax-deferred growth: The earnings on your annuity grow tax-deferred until you start receiving payments.Death benefit: If you pass away before you have received all of your annui